Laughter is One Letter Short of Slaughter
by crandom
Summary: After a tragedy in Ponyville, Axel and Adrian seek to help Rainbow Dash let go of Fluttershy. Unfortunately, in the process they unleash a terrible demon upon Equestria! Can they bring the real Fluttershy back? no blood, no gore
1. Chapter 1

Laughter is One Letter Short of Slaughter

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: credit to hasbro for my little pony and credit to shalaar on tumblr for slaughtershy.

Walking down the crowded main street of Baldwinsville, Axel felt increasingly uncomfortable. Ever since he had left his own town in Southern Germaneigh, the young Pegasus had immersed himself so much in working, decorating his house, and reading that he had never found the time to make friends with the other ponies of the town. Now, he felt strange amongst them. As they trotted past him in couples and groups, he felt like they were looking at him and whispering about him. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life.

Eventually Axel worked up enough courage to approach three ponies that were standing by a lamp post talking merrily. He drew up next to them, and asked, "Pardon me, but do you have the time?"

They looked at him, disapproving of his intrusion. "No." answered one of them. "We don't."

Hearing this was too much for Axel. Tears rushed to his eyes, and he felt horribly ashamed. He ran back up the street and cantered down the road to his house, crying. He threw the front door open, slammed it shut behind him, tripped on a lump in the carpet, and crashed into the basement door, knocking it open and tumbling down the spiral staircase into the library he had built in his basement. He lay there on the floor, soaking in his despair and thinking about his life. "'How could I have been so naïve? I had everything I could have wished for in Germaneigh, but I left it all for this," he whispered to the books on their dark shelves.

Then, just as he was beginning to calm down, he thought he heard a sound from upstairs. He perked his ears. Yes, someone was definitely knocking at the front door. Axel picked himself up, and slowly climbed back up the stairs. He opened it, slowly sticking his head out the crack in the door. He spoke softly, still half crying. "Uh... is there an- anything I can do for you?"

The gray unicorn that stood on Axel's doorstep replied with a slight nod of his head. "Yes. I saw what happened back there and followed you. I wanted to come and make sure you were alright."

Hearing this cheered Axel up a bit. He gave the pony a small smile. "Yes, I'm a bit better now. Knowing that somepony cares about me in this town helps." He opened the door to let the unicorn in.

The unicorn looked around at the inside of Axel's house in awe. "Wow! I never would have guessed it from outside, but you sure know how to decorate a place," he said.

Axel grinned. "Thanks! It's not my best work, but it'll do until I get more money."

His gray friend gasped. "But this place is awesome as it is! Why would you want to improve on something that's already perfect?"

Axel blushed under his coat and stammered out further words of gratitude. Their conversation slowed to a halt until Axel realized he had forgotten to introduce himself. "Sorry," he apologized. "I haven't told you my name. I am Axel Levletribgen."

The unicorn chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Axel. I'm Adrian Stone." Adrian gave Axel a slight bow.

Axel was surprised. "Why are you bowing? I'm not royalty."

"It's an Equestrian thing," Adrian answered. "I guess you haven't been here too long, huh?"

Axel and Adrian ambled around the house for a while. Axel chatted to Adrian about his old life in Germaneigh as Adrian admired Axel's superbly decorated rooms. He was most impressed by Axel's library, exclaiming "ooh!" and browsing around the carved wooden racks for a long time.

Eventually, the two found themselves by the front door again. "Well, I'm going to get going now. It was nice meeting you," said Adrian.

"It was nice meeting you too," replied Axel. "Stop over any time you want, ok?"

Adrian smiled. "I will," he said.

Axel watched him trot off down the road before closing the door. He went down to his library again to read, but found that he couldn't keep his mind on the book in front of him. He looked over at the clock on the wall and noticed it was nearly 9:00 PM. If it was that late, he figured he might as well go to bed. He put his book away and went upstairs, where as soon as he lay in bed, his dreams took over.


	2. Chapter 2

Laughter is One Letter Short of Slaughter

Chapter 2

Axel was hanging on for his life. One hoof jabbed into a small hole on the side of the massive cliff. Above him, heaven, below, hell. He struggled to climb back up onto the cliff. His wings were seemingly absent. As he slowly propped himself onto the cliff edge, he saw a yellow pony wings made of pure stardust. Thus explaining the uselessness. She slid uncontrollably to the cliffs edge where Axel lunged in a effort to grab hold of her. he missed by mere inches. And watched in horror as the yellow Pegasus pony fell towards the depths of hell. Shrill crys and a faint 'save me' was all he heard until all was silent again. accept from the roaring crackles of the flames below. Caught up in his daze of what just happened he lost his footing on the rocks. Slipped, and plummeted towards the fiery depths. He could see the fire filled walls close in around him. The light slowly dimming until… nothing. Axel opened his eyes and jolted upright in his bed. He was covered in sweat despite the cold night air rushing in through the window. He realized it was only 2AM but he was hungry and now purely exhausted. He walked downstairs the dim moonlight guiding him. As he came to the bottom floor and passed the kitchen window, bright lights shot into the house. He looked back to the window to see bright white balls flying past the horizon.

'Luna's tears' Axel thought to himself. 'she must be crying… but why?' he pondered for a moment before going to his basement and fetching a book called 'Princess Luna 101' he flipped through it a bit to a part he had recognized. He read the passage slowly in his mind.

'Luna's tears only show when somepony very important to equestrian has passed on.' More info followed but he pondered the sequence of events. 'a yellow Pegasus pony, pink mane falling into hell… and then Luna's tears… could… it couldn't have been. It was only a dream.' He had seen a yellow Pegasus pony with a pink mane in the newspaper about the celebration for defeating discord. It said her name was Fluttershy. Nothing else. He took it upon himself to visit the princess about it in the morning. In the meantime, he walked back upstairs and fell back into his oppressive dreams.

The morning came as Celestia's sun rose slowly into the sky. He groggily sat up rubbing his eyes and quickly patting down his frizzy mane. He promptly got into the shower and out before eating a quick bowl of cereal and packing some things for the trip. He gave his wings a quick exercise as well. He jumped out his front door blinded for a moment by the intense sunlight, to see Adrian coming to see him.

"oh hey Adrian your out early." He flicked his head up slightly aiming his eyes and the saddle bags.

"going somewhere?" he questioned slightly hesitantly. Axel's initial response was a nod followed by a more detailed answer.

"I'm going to Canterlot, I need to inform princess Celestia of a possible tragedy." Adrian gasped

"tragedy? What happened?" it was obvious that Adrian was very concerned, Axel gave a sigh and proceeded with his reply.

"I had a dream last night where I was about to fall into hell… I saw this yellow Pegasus pony slide in. and when I woke up to go get a midnight snack, and I saw Luna's tears" Adrian gave Axel a confused look, and questioned,

"Luna's tears? What are those?" Axel knew his detailed answer but shortened it and simplified it to be easier on the brain.

"When a very important pony, to Equestria dies, Luna begins to cry and when Luna cries you get a unplanned meteor shower." Adrian gave a slight 'huh' before proceeding hesitantly to ask one last question.

"can I come with you?" Axel thought about the idea or a minute thinking out his reply. After he had decided he talked with no haste in his voice

"well… I guess you can come. But I may not be the best flier in Equestria but I can go pretty fast. You're going to have to keep up." Adrian scoffed

"I can run pretty fast. I won the running of the leaves last year" Axel nodded and replied

"ok you can come. Just keep on the down-low when we get to the castle and leave the talking to me. Go grab your saddle bags, some drinks, and some snacks. I've got us lunch in mine. I expect you back here within the hour" Adrian took off back to his home and was prepared within 10 minutes. When he got back the two took off towards Canterlot Axel in the air and Adrian keeping up well on the ground. Eventually the duo stopped for lunch before shoving off again arriving in Canterlot not 20 minutes later. Upon request of seeing the princess it was denied several times before the princess came out and wondered what was wrong. The two ponies were brought back to the throne room down a long marble-floored hallway lines with torches, and spots of gold and diamond. Hoof clops echoed through the palace's many endless corridors Luna waited patiently in the throne next to her sisters, as the two ponies followed princess Celestia to her throne where she sat down and began to speak

"Now, what seems to be the matter of such urgency?" asked the princess softly. Axel spoke slowly choosing every word carefully.

"Not many astronomer ponies know about this but, I saw 'Luna's tears' last night. Right after a very harsh dream of a pony possibly name Fluttershy being thrown into hell. She was one of the ponies who defeated discord. Correct?" upon hearing all of this the princess was flabbergasted. She remained calm and told Adrian to leave. As soon as the throne room doors shut she talked swiftly and sharply.

"How did you know?" the princess inquired. Axel was stunned

"So somepony important did die!" princess Celestia nodded slightly and began to speak.

"A very unfortunate accident brought that young pony to her end. Only Ponyville has really heard of it. You must be a very good astronomer to know something is up when there is an unplanned meteor shower." Axel's curiosity was beginning to get the better of him.

"Who was this Fluttershy exactly? And how did she die?" the princess's response began with a sigh as she proceeded to speak

"Fluttershy was a dear friend of my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, she helped not only free Luna from nightmare moon, but also defeated discord as well. She helped move a dragon out of its cave that was threatening Equestria. She always wanted to help in any way possible. And as for how she died… it was a very unfortunate accident. One that may destroy 2 lives."

"how so?" asked Axel. princess Celestia proceeded to make another short speech.

"Rainbow Dash the supposedly fastest pony in Equestria, was doing some flight practice with Fluttershy as her cheering section. She lost control and slammed right into Fluttershy rib cage, she was killed on impact, and now rainbow dash is extremely depressed and says she won't ever fly again."

"my gosh that's terrible…" princess Celestia nodded slightly. None of our physicians can get through to her. They say she's too far gone." Axel's feeling of 'guilt' led him to an extremely radical decision. He sighed before talking

"Princess I don't want 2 of the elements dying. I'll do everything I can possibly do to get Rainbow Dash back" the princess grinned. And made a small proposal.

"As a thanks for your efforts, I will give you a free ride to Ponyville and have a house bought under my name for you" Axel was stunned at her propostion.

"But princess!-" the princess swiftly cut him off

"if your going to help one of the elements from certain death, then I thank you very much. It's the least I could do" Axel didn't want to cause grief to anypony. Especially the queen of Equestria! But he felt satisfied, and thanked the princess for her kindness

"Thank you princess." He bowed to her as she talked again.

"The flight to Ponyville will arrive in 10 minutes, until then I will have one of my guards escort you to the flight deck. Safe travels, Axel was it?" Axel nodded and replied

"Axel Levletribgen" the princess remembered now

"Ahh yes! You're that immigrant from Germaney! Why did you come to Equestria?" Axel wanted to make the response quick as he was excited for his journey

"Germaney is in an economic collapse so I took whatever money I could and booked" the princess understood completely.

"Wise decision, now go your flight will be here soon" Axel bowed again and replied

"yes princess"

Hey guys, sorry for such a massive update gap. I can't exactly and wont blame any one person for the delay but I can say that things of this manner will continue. If there is a large gap in-between beta to final, then I will post a non-corrected version and update it once I get the updated version. Once again guys I apologize for the delay.


	3. Chapter 3

Laughter is One Letter Short of Slaughter

Chapter 3

The massive wooden throne room doors swung open nearly hitting Adrian he yelped and jumped away

"Whoa! Watch it there Axel" Axel realized what he did.

"Oh heh, sorry about that." Adrian's curiosity was already at the surface and couldn't be stopped

"So, what did the princess say?" Axel motioned for Adrian to follow the guard that was leading them as he talked

"I was right. Somepony important did die. It was Fluttershy of Ponyville-"Adrian swiftly cut him off from his noticing of the name.

"Oh yea! The one that helped defeat discord right?" Axel nodded and sensed that Adrian would want to know how she died so he told that part next

"She died because her friend Rainbow Dash hit her in the chest killed her instantly." Adrian gasped

"O-on purpose?" Axel recoiled realizing his flaw

"Oh! Nonononono! It was all _pure_ accident, flight practice gone bad, but now Rainbow Dash is very depressed, and I hate to sign you up for things, but were going to Ponyville and I'm going to see if I can get her back." Adrian waved with a dismissing hoof

"don't worry about it, I love doing new things anyway. It was getting boring and crummy back in Baldwinsville anyhow." An empowered thought crossed Axel's mind

"I just thought of something, since you're the unicorn here you can be my assistant!" this struck Adrian as confused and flustered

"Me? Assistant? My magic isn't even that good I mean-"it was Axel's turn to cut off

"Practice makes perfect!" Adrian thought it over for a moment.

"Well… I guess I could do some more practice… but what if I screw something up? What would happen then?" Axel pondered it over for a few seconds.

"I'm sure the townsponys would be willing to help clean up a bit" Axel's reasoning, although persuasive didn't really get Adrian to accept. He didn't exactly have a choice in the matter either so he could only accept.

"Ok. I'll do it" Axel grinned and bounced as they came upon the flight deck. A massive seemingly floating chunk of marble hanging from the mountain side with multiple cables. The flight deck was decorated with torch lights that hung from the high glass ceiling. They saw a chariot with 2 pegasi pulling it. The guard leading them spoke quickly to the pegasi fliers

"These are Axel and Adrian bring them to Ponyville, stat" the pegasi fliers nodded as the two ponies got in. they took off down the runway and were in the air within a moment's notice. Adrian began to tremble. Axel ignored it to look at the scenery. They passed over small mountains and rolling fields where the grass moved lightly in the breeze, before they knew it they were at Ponyville. They chariot touched down gently and came to a stop. Adrian couldn't have been quicker to get out. He got out so quickly Axel could have sworn he felt some shaking from it. Nearly immediately they were greeted by a pink earth pony.

"Hi!" Axel steeped back a bit

"Uhh-"Axel was planning on speaking but was cut off by the pink earth pony.

"My name is Pinkie Pie! You two must be new to Ponyville, cause I haven't seen you here before! I may just throw a party right here and now!" Axel put on a serious face but stuttered with his wording.

"Umm yes, we are new to Ponyville but were here on strict business from the princess." Pinkie gave a quick disappointed sigh before gasping.

"I remember now! You two are those ponies from Twilight's letter! So never mind about that party you two must be REALLY busy to be sent here under direct order of the princess. Oh! Are you here to make friends?" both ponies looked at each other puzzled, before Axel spoke

"no… were here to he-" Pinkie cut him off. Good thing too

"I should show you to all my friends! Let's go see twilight first!" Axel stopped the pink pony from taking off

"Twilight? as in Twilight Sparkle… Celestia's star pupil?" Pinkie nodded vigorously and replied

"yep!"

"If the princess sent her a letter, it must be for our accommodations! Umm Pinkie, would you mind leading us to Twilight please?"

"Oh yea! Twilight told me to come greet you once you got here and take you to her! Follow me!" Pinkie bounced off and the two ponies gave chase. They passed rows of houses and the market center before they got to a rather large tree-house.

"This is Twilight's house! I sure hope she's home right now." Pinkie gave a knock on the door and the door swung inward moments later. Twilight was on the other side of the entry room reading. She peered her head over the book and spoke.

"Pinkie! C'mon in!" Pinkie bounced her way in and when Twilight saw the other two ponies she got a bit nervous. Axel took a quick moment took look around. The wooden floors were smooth and polished and the bookshelves were void of any dust. Noticeable Even from afar.

"Uhh Pinkie wh-"Pinkie cut twilight off

"These are our guests from Canterlot! Sent here under the order of the princess i think" Twilight loosened up and spoke.

"Ahh yes the princess mailed me of your arrival. I talked to mayor mare and she said she would have your house ready by tomorrow afternoon. Anyways, my name is Twilight yours are Axel and Adrian correct?" both ponies nodded and they both spoke out their names to let Twilight know who was who.

"I am Axel"

"And I am Adrian" Axel then realized something

"Wait… if our accommodations are ready for tomorrow… then where will we stay until then?" Twilight pondered over that for a moment before replying

"Well I'm certainly not just going to throw you out into the cold. I have the mattress downstairs I can pull that up here… then you may have to sleep together… or somepony can sleep with me." Axel responded very quickly

"Well! I'm in favor for saying sleeping together is out of the question. Heh" Axel nervously laughed and trailed a hoof on the wooden floor. Adrian then spoke

"Well if that's out of the question then Axel, you can sleep with Twilight." Axel gave a quick look to Twilight and back to Adrian.

"Oh no, you can sleep with Twilight" Adrian grew a look of slight concern and asked

"Are you sure?" asked Adrian. Axel gave a nod and replied

"Yes you can sleep with Twilight Adrian, I'll be fine." Twilight gave a slight giggle.

"Yes Twilight?" Adrian asked with a sly look on his face.

"Oh uhh, nothing it's just I thought you two would be fighting over who would sleep with me…" Twilight trailed off covering her blush with a hoof. Both ponies ignored it and moved on.

"well I hope you wouldn't mind twilight but, we don't have any leftovers from lunch or many snacks left so is it ok if we have some of your dinner?" Twilight gasped

"Well of course its ok! It's the least I could do for the two ponies offer to help rainbow-"Twilight cut herself off and clamped a hoof over her mouth. A slight whimper was heard over the silence. Adrian and Axel turned to Pinkie. She was holding back tears her hair was starting to lose its volume. Axel realized the problem right away.

"Oh no…" Axel walked over to Pinkie and threw a hoof around her and spun her backwards backs facing twilight and Adrian. Twilight motioned for Adrian to follow her into the kitchen. Axel gave Pinkie a quick hug before speaking.

"Pinkie pie, look at me." Pinkie Pie continued to lightly sob with her head down. Axel increased his level of seriousness.

"Pinkie pie. Look at me." She slowly turned her face to meet Axel's "I'm here to help your friend. I know times have been tough with the loss and all, but I'm going to help her one way or another. If it kills me. So pinkie pie I promise on the heart of the… princess and all of the inhabitants of this great nation that I will make sure that Rainbow Dash does not do anything harsh." Pinkie smiled and gave Axel a hug speaking softly

"Make sure Dashie stays safe Axel. Please" she let out another stream of tears into Axel's chest.

"Like I said pinkie. I promise."


End file.
